Dylan Thomas

“Do not go gentle into that good night”

 • Iambic Pentameter

• French style consisting of

• Five 3-line stanzas (tercets)
• One quatrain
What is a
• Rhyme scheme
Villanelle? • A1/B/A2
• A/B/A1
• A/B/A2
• A/B/A1
• A/B/A2
• A/B/A1/A2
What is a Refrain?
• A phrase or line repeated at intervals within a poem, usually at the
end of a stanza

• Similar to chorus in songs

• Used to highlight the poem’s message

 The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
“One Art” by Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
Elizabeth to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
Bishop next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.
—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
What is an Extended Metaphor?
• It’s a metaphor that develops over multiple lines, sometimes even the
entire work

• Has an overarching theme, carries and develops a central idea

• Far more complex than a regular metaphor, which occurs over one line

• Not meant to be taken literally (like regular metaphors)

• Used interchangeably with “conceit”

 Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

“Hope” by And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm
Emily That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
Dickinson "I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.“

• Extended metaphor: “hope” is compared to a bird; the

idea is developed over the poem
Dylan Thomas (1914-
1953)
• Dramatist, writer, and poet; most famous for
“Under Milk Wood” and “Death Shall Have No
Dominion”
• Worked as scriptwriter and reader for BBC; also
worked for film companies in London
• Went on lecture tours in America; first time in
1950, gained worldwide fame
• Considered a “rockstar poet”
• Had an alcohol addiction; cause of death suspicious
“Do not go gentle into
that good night” (1952)
• Written to his dying father
• Carries intensely personal meaning for
Thomas
• The cycle of life and death forms a
constant underlying theme in his works

• Outlines views towards death – resist it

at all costs
• Describes four different types of old men
and examines their attitudes and feelings
towards their imminent death
Analysis
• Mostly lecture-based as we go line by line
• Some basic ideas:
• Metaphors –
• “gentle” is used to describe the personality of the individual
• “good night” is death, of course
• “burn and rave” is used to urge a furious resistance to death, to cling passionately to life
• “wise men” are scholars or knowledgeable people, “good men” are those who have lived
morally good lives, “wild men” are those who have led exciting lives, and “grave men” are
those who were serious
• Juxtaposition –
• “gentle” is paired with “rage”
• “good” with “dying”
• “night” with “light”
• “grave” with “gay”
• “blind” with “sight”
Further reading
If you’re interested in learning more about Thomas, please check out the
following resources:

• The Story Behind Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
and the Poet’s Own Stirring Reading of His Masterpiece by Maria Popova
• The Last Rock-Star Poet by James Parker
• Dylan Thomas on visiting the United States by Brian Maye
• Dylan Thomas: creating Under Milk Wood – A Poet in New York – BBC Two
• And death shall have no dominion (1943)